1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document processing method and apparatus for rearranging a plurality of layout constituent elements in a document on the basis of an instruction for changing the paper size of the document.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when the paper size is changed, layout constituent elements in paper are rearranged such that the layout constituent elements (object frames or character sizes) after the change in paper size become similar to those before the change, or the ratio between the paper shape and the shape of each layout constituent element remains constant. The former is the DTP of a word processor or the like, in which margin sizes are changed to make the shape of the printing enable range after the change in paper size similar to that before the change, and the layout constituent elements within that range are also deformed such that they become similar. The latter is used to deform image data or a template, in which margin sizes before and after the change in paper size are neglected, and the aspect ratio between the paper shape and the shape of each layout constituent element in the paper is kept uniform.
These rearranging techniques will be described below in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the paper size of a template formed from four slots is changed such that the shape of each layout, constituent element after the change is kept similar to that before the change. The slots are similar when, for the width and height of the upper left slot in FIG. 1, “W41/H41=W42/H42” is satisfied.
FIG. 2 shows an example in which the paper size of a template formed from four slots is changed such that the ratio between the paper shape and the shape of each layout constituent element remains constant. The ratio between the paper shape and the slot shape remains constant when, for the width and height of the upper left slot in FIG. 2, “W51a/W51b=W52a/W52b, H51a/H51b=H52a/H52b” is satisfied.
However, in the method shown in FIG. 1 or 2, since margin sizes are neglected, the layout constituent elements may enter the binding margin or a physical printing disable area.